Dodgers dominate Giants in series opener

Sep 29, 2007 - 5:54 AM
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Wilson Valdez drove in two runs and
James Loney hit his third home run in the last five games as the
Los Angeles Dodgers dominated the San Francisco Giants, 8-3, on
Friday night.

Dodgers starter David Wells (9-9) pitched six strong innings,
scattering seven hits while allowing just three runs. The
veteran lefthander struck out three and walked one.

Wells also contributed offensively, scoring a run and driving in
another.

"Just wanted to go out and try to pitch a good game and get a
win to end the losing streak we are on," Wells said.

Holding a 5-3 lead, the Dodgers cemented the game in the
seventh, scoring two runs to extend their lead to four.

After Randy Messenger relieved Giants starter Kevin Correia,
Juan Pierre singled to center with one out in the frame, plating
Chad Moeller.

"It felt good to put runs on the board and play good baseball,"
Pierre said. "I just wanted to look for a good pitch and find a
gap."

Mark Sweeney followed with a pinch-hit single before Wilson
Valdez contributed a base hit of his own, plating Sweeney, as
the Dodgers took a 7-3 lead.

Correia (4-7) lasted six innings, allowing five runs and six
hits. The righthander struck out five and walked one, suffering
his first loss since joining the rotation on August 25.

"He (Correia) has been pitching good for us lately and just
didn't get it done tonight," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

The Giants took a lead in the first inning as Rajai Davis
singled to lead off the game, advanced to third on a single by
Kevin Frandsen and scored when Randy Winn grounded into a double
play. The lead didn't last for long as the Dodgers scored two
runs in each of the first two innings.

In the bottom of the first, Valdez walked with one out and
scored when Matt Kemp doubled to deep left. Two batters later,
Andy LaRoche plated Kemp with a double of his own, giving the
Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

After the Giants drew even in the top of the second inning on an
RBI single by Vizquel, the Dodgers put up two more runs in the
bottom of the inning, taking a 4-2 lead.

"We really like him (Valdez)," Dodgers manager Grady Little
said. "He can do a lot of the little things that can help us
win games in the future."

Moeller led off the frame with a single and advanced to second
on a ground out by Hu. Wells plated Moeller with a base hit and
scored two batters later when Valdez lifted a sacrifice fly to
center field.

Loney extended the Dodgers' lead to 5-2 when he hit his 15th
home run of the season, a solo blast, in the third inning off
Correia.

"He's (Loney) been swinging a hot bat lately and it's going to
be good to see him get a full season under his belt next year,"
Little said.

The Giants added a run in the fifth when Vizquel scored on a
ground ball by Davis before the Dodgers put the game out of
reach in the seventh.

NLAT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATESOLO HOME RUN BY JAMES LONEY (15) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN THE 3RD OFF KEVIN CORREIA.CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 2, LA DODGERS 5DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: A LAROCHE (.232, 1-FOR-1, RBI)